Sustaining actions

Key actions we must take to embed and realize the value of past choices, supporting the transformative actions we’ve taken so far

Implement plan and group benefit changes

By January 2019, we will complete the implementation of the Teachers’ Pension Plan (TPP) design changes. We are also prepared to work with other plans on changes they may be considering. We expect that if other plans do change their design that those changes will take between 18 and 24 months to implement, depending on their complexity, magnitude and timing.

We are also preparing for possible post-retirement group benefit plan changes. Depending on their type and timing, we may only be able to implement one group benefit change at a time. During the past few years, we have worked hard to enhance communication channels with plan stakeholders (boards of trustees, partners and other advisors). While we have some understanding of activities being considered, at the time of writing, possible plan changes is our greatest area of uncertainty.

Evolve the member experience to omni-channel while sustaining 2015–2018 deliverables

By providing a consistent service experience, whether members phone or go online, we will enable members to quickly switch between channels or use multiple channels simultaneously—while we track member interactions. This omni-channel approach puts the member at the centre of the experience.

To make this happen, we must have the necessary digital infrastructure to ensure consistency of content and experience across channels.

Through 2018–2021, the evolution to omni-channel will begin to broaden from its initial member focus to include employers, so in time, they too will have a consistent experience, no matter which channel they choose. Our staff will also benefit from the omni-channel approach, as they will use multiple channels to access information and provide services to members and employers.

To continue meeting expectations, we must sustain our member-focused efforts and continue to do the following:

Build member-centric communications competencies

Enhance user-experience testing capabilities

Optimize member services centre functionalities

Strengthen information security, management and technology

We will sustain our investments in three key areas:

1. Strengthen information security:

In addition to our regular practice of integrating information security into all programs and projects, three discrete actions are required to strengthen information security:

We rely on accurate and available information, and will continue to mature our information management (IM) processes and systems for member data and records management. Additionally, we will refine our control frameworks to enable tight integration of information and processes with strong information security.

We will mature our IM capability by emphasizing member data and focusing on the following key activities:

Manage information throughout its lifecycle to ensure it is accurate, authentic, available, complete and traceable

Minimize paper, digitizing information wherever possible

3. Strengthen investments in information technology:

To ensure high availability, we will invest in a new private cloud infrastructure for our mission-critical pension administration systems. We must protect these systems and member data with a robust security solution; we will move less critical applications to a simplified commercial cloud infrastructure and software as a service model (SaaS). For example, Microsoft Office software will move to the Canadian Microsoft cloud. To sustain the investment and agility of new From 12 to 21 pension applications, we will implement an application lifecycle management process and technology.